


just tell me when to take you home

by girlsonthetv



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, Motorcycles, Shotgunning, Underage Drug Use, Weed, fluff with plot, makoto is very soft for hifumi and vice versa, the gang goes to the bar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 11:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11576946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsonthetv/pseuds/girlsonthetv
Summary: The group of students comes to Big Bang Burger a few times a week. Hifumi is sheltered and longing for friendship. The girl with short brown hair and skinny jeans is gorgeous. The rest is history.





	just tell me when to take you home

It was almost time to close up, and the group in the back was still talking away without a care in the world. Hifumi felt a twinge of annoyance as she wiped down the counter. The group had showed up the past two days as well, though never so late. 

Two boys and three girls, all squeezed into one booth. They dressed like punks, the kind of people her mother shot ugly looks at on the train and warned her to stay away from. Akira was among them, the guy who played shogi with her. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about, the news, homework, friends they wanted to see and manga they wanted to buy. They ordered milkshakes and sodas and piles of fries Hifumi thought were kind of gross but they seemed to like. 

Hifumi had never had a group of friends like that. She'd never really had a group of friends, either. She was lucky her mother had let her get this part-time job. She thought about going up to them, saying she was sorry but it was time to close, her name is Hifumi maybe they can be friends. But it's best not to get ideas above her station.

Hifumi had been done wiping down the counter for a while now, but she continued to stand where she was and watch that group. Mostly the girls, if she was being honest. Typically, they just wore biker jackets over their school uniforms, but today, at this hour, they were all dressed up. The boys were dressed like boys, graphic t-shirts and jeans, but the girls. Hifumi found it even harder than usual to take her eyes off the girls. 

Hifumi didn't know their names, so she gave them nicknames in her head. There was the blonde, who she thought of as General. There was Pawn, with short fluffy hair, who leaned on General's shoulder and giggled at most everything she said and occasionally looked up and kissed General right on her lips, which was Hifumi's cue to blush and look away. General was wearing a scarlet dress with black leggings and matching red boots that emphasized her long legs. Pawn was wearing a light blue dress that reminded her of an angel and flat shoes.

And then there was Bishop. The one she thought about near-constantly, the one she spent most of her time looking at when she came into Big Bang Burger with her friends. She was just so beautiful, wispy brown hair and red eyes that pierced, and so graceful, slender form and regal gait. Even her smile curved up gracefully. She reminded her of the movements of a bishop in shogi - hence, the nickname. 

Bishop was dressed to the nines like her friends, only she somehow looked the best. Though maybe Hifumi was biased. Bishop wore a black turtleneck sweater and men's skinny jeans with a biker jacket and black boots. Simple and elegant and lovely. Hifumi's heart beat double time whenever she heard her laugh.

Bishop glanced over at the counter and Hifumi hurriedly went back to doing all the minute little activities required for closing the restaurant. 

A little more time passed, Hifumi glancing at Bishop and her friends whenever she was sure they weren't looking at her as she worked. Around the time she finished and was working up the nerve to tell the group that they had to leave, she heard a loud chorus of people ushering someone to go! Go! Do it!

Feeling a surge of dread, Hifumi turned around to see Bishop standing on the other side of the counter fidgeting with the ends of her sleeves, her jacket draped over her back like a cape. It had to be a dream, but when did Hifumi fall asleep, then?

Bishop took a deep breath before speaking. "My name is Makoto, and I'm sure we're being a horrible annoyance by staying as long as we are, but the only reason we are is because I've been trying to work up the nerve to ask you if you wanted to go out with us. Because I really like you, and I want to get to know you and maybe date. If you're even into girls, or into me." Bishop - Makoto - swallowed. "I'd also like to introduce you to my other friends, over there." Makoto waved her hand back towards their table, where the boy with black hair and General waved cheerily. 

A smile spread across Hifumi's face slowly as her heart beat like a rabbit's. Makoto was not only into her, but wanted to get to know her and introduce her to her friends and invite her to go out. This was every daydream of hers from the past months combined into one, gloriously real event. 

"I would love to do all of those things," Hifumi said, "but first you have to let me clear your table." 

Makoto nodded quickly. "Of course."

/

"Makoto Nijima, as you know." The black-haired boy said, pointing at Makoto who raised her hand. He pointed to the blonde boy, General, and Pawn in turn, saying, "Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Haru Okumura. And Akira Kurusu." He said at the end, pointing to himself with a devilish smile. "We have another friend, Yusuke," Akira explained, "but he's staying home tonight. He got struck with inspiration or something. And Futaba doesn't like this stuff." 

"Hifumi Togo." Hifumi said, pointing at herself with a giddy grin. "I go to Yusuke's school." All the others nodded and started walking. Hifumi didn't see it, but Makoto mouthed her name again, testing the feel of it in her mouth. 

This was really happening. The group had gotten up with no complaints so she could wipe down their table and wash their dishes and finally actually close up the restaurant for the night. Now they were outside, getting ready to go to a place called Crossroads. After eight pm. 

Her mother would flip if she knew. If Hifumi hadn't texted her a lie that she was putting in extra overtime at the Snack Shack with her boss watching over her. 

The group headed toward the train station, and Hifumi moved to follow before she felt Makoto tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Makoto having pulled her jacket on properly and jerking her head towards a sleek black motorcycle, new or extremely well cared for. "I was hoping that you'd think I was cool if I offered to give you a ride on my motorcycle. I only got it recently, but I'm pretty good. Not to brag or anything." Makoto finished quickly.

Hifumi wondered why she had ever given boys the time of day when there were girls like Makoto, with motorcycles and beautiful blushing faces. "I would love to ride on your motorcycle." 

"Great!" Makoto said, clapping her hands together. "Um, let me just - " Makoto darted to the bike and began to presumably get things in order to ride it. After a minute, she beckoned Hifumi over, and she very carefully situated herself on the back of Makoto's bike. Makoto passed her a helmet before explaining. "We'll be taking the scenic route to Crossroads, but Johanna here goes so fast it won't feel like that." Makoto grinned. The fact that she gave her motorcycle a name was attractive to Hifumi for reasons she couldn't explain. "When you wrap your arms around me, I'll take it as the signal to go, alright?" 

Hifumi nodded before putting her helmet on. She wrapped her arms around Makoto and felt the older girl stiffen before relaxing. Makoto smelled like cologne, sandalwood and vanilla. And they shot off into the night, their surroundings becoming a blur of light and muffled sound, the world becoming nothing but the two of them, going so fast Hifumi felt she might die. The whole world narrowed down to her arms around Makoto's torso, two points of contact as the world rushed around them. It was exhilarating.

By a miraculous stroke of luck and a shortcut, they arrived at Crossroads without hitting any red lights. Hifumi pulled off her helmet with a delighted shriek and Makoto looked at her worriedly as she took off her own. "I tried my best to go as smooth as possible - "

"That was great!" Hifumi declared. 

Makoto grinned and Hifumi thought this was probably the best spontaneous decision she'd ever made despite its' lack of competition. "The others should get here soon, do you want to wait for them, or - ?"

"No, I want to go in." Hifumi took a breath before quickly saying, "I want to spend some time alone with you." 

Makoto blushed deeply and briefly Hifumi worried that she had been too forward. Makoto parked her bike and laced her fingers in Hifumi's, smiling softly. "Then let's go. It shouldn't be too crowded." 

Crossroads was dimly lit and rather small, a bar occupying one wall and tables and a few booths taking up the rest of the space. Jazz music played from overhead speakers. A woman with purple hair manned the bar, serving drinks to those sitting on the stools. A cloud of smoke hovered over a booth in the corner. Every couple in the place was some variation of gay. Hifumi felt a lump in her throat. 

"Do you like it?" Makoto asked anxiously.

"I love it." Hifumi said sincerely. Makoto relaxed.

They ordered two club sodas with lime and sat a little ways away from the cloud of smoke. In the mood light, Makoto looked otherworldly, and Hifumi whispered a soft "wow".

"What?" Makoto asked.

"Nothing." Hifumi said, flustered. "It's just...you're really pretty." 

"Thank you...you are too." Makoto blushed. "You said you went to Yusuke's school, right? What kind of art do you do?" 

"Oh, I don't do art really." Hifumi waved her hand. "There's a sector for what they call general students, I'm part of that. Although one of the traditional art girls likes to sketch me when I'm playing shogi. As an expression study or something." 

"Can I study your expressions for a grade? It'd be the easiest assignment I've ever had." Makoto took a sip of her drink and snuck a look at Hifumi, gauging her reaction.

Hifumi giggled. "Greasy." 

Makoto's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - "

"Makoto." Hifumi put a hand on Makoto's wrist, laying on the table. She looked intently into her eyes. "I'm teasing you."

Makoto relaxed. "Sorry, I just get so tense getting to know people. And I've never done anything like this with another girl before." 

"It's okay." Hifumi said. "I haven't either. And we have all the time in the world to get to know each other." 

Makoto smiled, at ease, and Hifumi moved her hand down to hold hers. They sat like that for a while, hand in hand, sipping club soda, staring into each others' eyes. 

"Hifumi! Oh my god, oh my god."

They both looked up at the new voice, and Hifumi's lit up while Makoto remained confused. "Momo! It's so nice to see you! Makoto, this is the traditional art girl I was telling you about."

Momo stuck out a hand to shake. "Momo Hirai, it's my pleasure." 

Makoto took it with a tentative smile. "Makoto Nijima." 

"I didn't know you were gay!" Hifumi and Momo said simultaneously. They both burst out laughing, and Makoto giggled softly. 

"We got weed over there," Momo said, pointing her thumb back towards the cloud of smoke she had come from, "you want some?"

"Sure. Although," Hifumi said just as Momo turned to ask Makoto, whose jaw had dropped, "Makoto probably won't be partaking, she needs to drive us back."

"And because marijuana is a harmful drug." Makoto muttered. 

"Makoto won't snitch, right?" Hifumi asked sweetly. It wasn't a question. Makoto nodded. 

"Great!" Momo said, clapping her hands and tugging Hifumi towards her table. Hifumi followed, and Makoto followed her. Makoto watched with reluctant interest as Hifumi rolled a blunt the same way she played shogi - methodically, with an airtight strategy. She lit the end of it and was three hits deep when Makoto mumbled something under her breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry I kind of abandoned you, Makoto." Hifumi chuckled. "This pre-date probably isn't giving you a good impression of me."

"No, you're fine." Makoto said, blushing. She took a deep breath before saying a little louder, "Can we do the...the weed-kiss thing?" 

A beat passed.

"You want to shotgun a hit with me?" Hifumi said.

"If that's what it's called." Makoto said, her face nearly matching her eyes for hue.

"You can just kiss her, if that's what you want." Momo piped up.

Hifumi giggled and wouldn't stop for a solid minute before she answered either of them. "Momo, you're not being helpful. Makoto, I would love to shotgun a hit with you." 

"How do I do it right?" Makoto said, ears pink. "I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of her." Makoto whispered. 

"Breath it in, hold it in your mouth till you feel warm, breath out slow." Hifumi answered, giving Makoto no time to overthink it before she was blowing the smoke into Makoto's mouth, their lips just barely touching. It was a little clumsy, a lot poorly thought-out, but that was the case for all romantic acts undergone during the teenage years.

Makoto followed Hifumi's instructions well, inhaling maybe half the smoke and only coughing a little bit. Hifumi patted her back softly, and it was considered very romantic by all witnesses. "Wow." Makoto breathed.

"Wow." Hifumi agreed. 

"And...scene." 

They both looked up to see Ann putting her phone down, having recorded their drug-laced intimacy. "We got here a while ago, but we didn't wanna bug you."

"I can't believe straightlaced Makoto did a weed." Ryuji teased from behind Ann. 

"Shut up." Makoto said, smiling while swatting at Ryuji good-naturedly. Akira was exchanging banter with Lala, and Haru was sipping fruit punch at the bar. It was then that Hifumi felt a profound sense of belonging, in this place with these people. This was a place and a group she was welcome with, at least for this period of her life. She downed the rest of her soda and rested her head on Makoto's shoulder. 

"There's no dance floor to dance at." Hifumi mumbled. "So hold me." 

"O-okay." Makoto said, wrapping her arms around her. They sat like that for the rest of the evening, immersed in each other, their surroundings irrelevant. 

/

It was around ten forty-five in the evening when Makoto dropped Hifumi off a block away from her house. If Hifumi's mother had the slightest idea she had been on a motorcycle, Hifumi would never hear the end of it.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." Hifumi said. "We should do it again some time."

"Here, put your number in my phone." Makoto said, pulling her phone from her pocket. "I'll put mine in yours, and we can swap ideas about where our first real date should be."

They swapped phones, and Hifumi put in a little heart next to her name. She had given in to roughly five questionable impulses tonight, one more wouldn't hurt. 

"I'm really excited to see you again." Hifumi said, stepping closer to Makoto like she was going to get back on her bike. 

"Me too." Makoto said softly. 

They kissed for real, without smoke, a block away from Hifumi's house. It was tender and sweet and a little bit chapped and it was everything they had imagined it to be. They never wanted it to end, but it did, like all good things. Though it didn't kill them to leave each other, Makoto driving off and Hifumi walking to her house. They would have many, many more opportunities to kiss like that again in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Let Akira Take The Gang To Crossroads


End file.
